Eph 2:11-22
In our last Sunday Evening Bible Study, we looked at the first half of Ephesians chapter 2 – Jew and Gentile quickened (made alive). I thought it might be useful to briefly look at the second half of the chapter where the Jew and Gentile believers are reconciled to God.
The previous position of the Jew and the Gentile – Eph 2:11-12
It is difficult for us to understand the extent of the division that existed between the Jew and the Gentile. Paul in Rom 9:4-5 eloquently captures this from the perspective of the Jew.
“Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”
The opening verses of our passage clearly state the problem from the perspective of the Gentiles: they were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise”. The promised Messiah was not for them; they had no hope for the future and were “without God in the world”.
In Romans 3:1-2 Paul summarises the advantage of the Jew over the Gentiles.
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”
And Psalm 147:19-20 shows the uniqueness of this advantage.
“He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord.”
Brought near in Christ – Eph 2:13-17
In the previous section of the chapter there was a great “But” – “But God, who is rich in mercy …” (Eph 2:4). Here is another – “But now in Christ Jesus …” Paul is addressing these Gentile, Ephesian believers and says that they who were once far off have now been brought near. When we were saved, we were not forgiven and left at a great distance from God, we were justified (declared righteous) and brought near.
But how near? In the early church there were Jewish Christians who taught that Gentiles needed to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses in order to be saved (Acts 15:1,5).
“And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved … But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
They regarded the Gentiles as being afar off, and that they needed to be brought near, to where they, the Jews were. The giving of the covenants and the Law brought Jews into a position of nearness to God; and to achieve nearness, the Gentiles had to come onto the same ground where the Jews stood, to be circumcised and to keep the Law. But in the passage in Ephesians 2 we learn something remarkable about the Jews – they were not as near to God as they thought, or as they could be. Through the blood of Christ, they too would be reconciled to God, brought near in a way that the Law could not achieve.
So, both Gentile and Jew would be reconciled to God. How? Not by bringing the Gentile onto the same ground as the Jew, but by taking them both and putting them on new ground. In the past, Gentiles could become proselytes, followers of the religion of the Jews. Effectively they stepped across the “middle wall of partition” (Eph 2:14). But the wall was still there: the laws and ordinances now separated the proselyte from his Gentile brothers. But in Christ something new and remarkable happens – the wall is not crossed but broken down. In His flesh, through death, the Lord Jesus abolished the enmity that existed between Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:15; see also Col 1:22). Peace is made between Jew and Gentile because the position of both is changed – He creates of these two, one new man.
But this reconciliation is not just between Jew and Gentile, it is also between these two and God.
“And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Eph 2:16).
Notice in verse 15 it says, “to make in himself of twain one new man”. A believer (whether originally a Jew or a Gentile) is in Christ. And in Him, we are as close to God as we could possibly be.
It has been pointed out before that there is a difference between the blood of Christ and the cross of Christ. When I think of the blood of Christ, I think of the price that was paid for redemption – “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Eph 1:7). But when I think of the cross of Christ, I think of something being put to death and destroyed. So in our passage, the enmity that was between Jew and Gentile has been put to death by the cross of Christ (Eph 2:16).
Verse 17 summarised the position for both believers who were Gentiles and who were Jews.
“And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.”
Consequences – Eph 2:18-22
In verse 19, the apostle is addressing the Gentile, Ephesian believers, and he reminds them of where they came from, “strangers and foreigners”, and what they have become, “fellow-citizens”. They fully share all the benefits and privileges of all the saints. He then changes the metaphor and describes them as “the household of God”, a position of belonging but with even greater intimacy than citizenship.
In verse 20 he turns from the inmates of the house to the house itself. Paul makes much of the image of the Church as the Body in the Ephesian epistle, but here he is using the metaphor of a building. The foundation, that which unites us as believers in Christ, is the doctrine laid down by the apostles and prophets, and it is good for us to reflect that as a local church, we are not united by what holds a secular organisation together, but by doctrine. The Lord Jesus Christ is “the chief corner stone”. One commentator describes this very well. “We take the image to be that of a vast stone at an angle to the superstructure, into which the converging sides are embedded … and the spiritual reality to be, that Jesus Christ Himself is that which gives coherence and fixity to the foundation doctrines of His Church” (HCG Moule, Studies in Ephesians).
Verses 21 and 22 give something of the purpose of this building, to be “an holy temple in the Lord” and “an habitation of God through the Spirit”. It is remarkable that such key doctrinal truths are dealt with in so few words in the Ephesian epistle. We would do well to spend time examining and meditating on these truths so that something of their importance is impressed on us.
Richard